Sleep study question

[problemmatic]

Following up on my prior post (based on observation of pulse ox readouts during sleep study) where the consensus seemed to be that oxygen sat of 90 or higher during sleep was fine.  I just got preliminary results from my sleep study back and the findings are summarized as follows:  Severe OSA RDI=33/hr O2 desats to 91 percent.  I guess my question is whether the fact that I only "desat" to 91 undermines the finding of "severity"; in other words, even if I am having numerous episodes does the fact that my oxygen remains within normal range suggest it isn't as big a problem as the RDI otherwise might indicate?  Thanks.

[no where to turn to]

I'm going through the same thing. They told me I had held my breath 121 times. I'm going the 14th to be fitted for my c-pap.If it makes me feel better like everyone say's I will.It's worth a go at it. From everything I have read about this condition it can lead to even strokes. With that alone is a good enough reason to make it work,even though it's going to take some getting use to. Hope everything goes well for you.

[National Jewish]

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a condition in which the airway does not fully open during sleep.  This causes breathing to stop temporarily during sleep for up to a minute at a time.  Each time this happens it is an episode of apnea.  The fact that you have a respiratory disturbance index (RDI) of 33 determines that your OSA is severe.  The RDI is the number of times per hour that your sleep is effected by an episode of apnea.  During an hour of sleep you are having 33 episodes of apnea.  This needs to be treated.  The most common and effective treatment is the use of a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) device during sleep.  This is a machine that delivers air pressure into the lungs to keep the airways open during sleep.  You are fortunate that your oxygen saturation is not dropping lower during these episodes.  Please read our Obstructive Sleep Apnea MedFact at http://www.nationaljewish.org/medfacts/sleep_apnea_treating.html for more information.